Just as Lorelei finished speaking, a blazing fireball seven or eight meters across, steeped in dark aura, suddenly flew in from afar toward the Gengar gathering food.
Lance's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he hurriedly commanded Dragonite.
"Dragonite, stop it!"
Dragonite's gaze turned grave. With a beat of those little wings, Extreme Speed activated, carrying Dragonite in front of the fireball in less than a second.
"Protect!"
"Wooo!"
Dragonite extended both hands, instantly forming a green barrier.
The supreme defensive move stopped the fireball, but the impact still erupted with a thunderous boom.
Lorelei's expression darkened. "That was too loud! It'll draw the nearby Shadow Pokémon here!"
Lance looked utterly grim. He said nothing, staring in the direction the fireball had come from.
How could he not understand what Lorelei meant?
But the Gengar varied greatly in strength, and that Pyro Ball was incredibly powerful. If he hadn't ordered Dragonite to stop it, many of them would have been seriously injured.
They wouldn't have been able to bring the food back, either.
Their entire trip today would have been for nothing.
Yet when Lance and Lorelei finally saw the Pokémon that had launched the Pyro Ball, both their gazes trembled.
"That's..."
"Leon's Cinderace?!"
While the two stood stunned, Cinderace leaped high into the air and delivered an overhead kick, sending an identical Pyro Ball hurtling toward the Gengar.
"Damn it, why did it have to be you?!" Lance cursed, raising his hand to release his other five Pokémon.
"Dragonite, block the Flame Burst! The rest of you, attack! Take Cinderace down as fast as you can!"
Lorelei didn't stand idle, either, ordering her partners to attack at the same time.
Suddenly, a thin jet of black water carrying terrifying power shot toward the Gengar!
"Jynx!!!" Lorelei shouted.